Life-saving device.



J. M. 6: E. R. CONNOR.

LIFE SAVING DEVICE.

APPLICATION TILED 11011.14, 1911.

Patented Mar, 25, 1913.

unrrnn STATES PATENT or'u cn I JOBEPH'M. CG'NNQR, OF NEW YORK, AND ELMERR. CONNOR, OF PORT RICHMOND, NEW

" YORK.

LIFE-SAVING DEVICE.

Specification ofLctters Patent.

Patented Mai. 25, 151 113.

To all whom.- it may concern:

Be it known that we, Jo'sEP'H M. Connor,

a citizen of the United, States of America, residing at New York city,Manhattan bor- 5 ough, andStete of New York, and ELMJZR R. Connonf'ucitizen fof the United States of America, residing at Port Richmond,Richmond county, Staten Island, New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Life-Saving. Devices, of

which tlie fol]gwiny g is a full, clear, and exu ct description.-

This invention relates to an improvement in life saving devices, butmore particularly to parachutes.

The object of our invention is to provide ulpurschutc and means adaptedto relesssbly secure the same to the body, whereby aviators, forinstance, are provided with means adapted to check their fall should theaeroplane become disabled and fall;

Gur improved safety device may also be used to facilitate the escape ofoccupants of burning buildings.

5 We will now proceed to describe our invention in detail, the novelfeatures of Y 'which we will. point out in the claims, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, where n:

Figure -1 is u' diagrammatic side View illustrating the manner ofsecuring the parachute to the body; S! is a rear View, showing theharness which secures the pars. chute to the body; Fig. 3 is adiagrammatic side view of the parachute when open; and Fig. 4t is asectional view illustrating one form of releasable catch for theharness.

inferring to the drawing, our improved life suviug'device comprises thejiiurechute 1,

6 which is secured, when folded, to the body.

by harness 52, comprising the band'membe 3, which pass around the bodyand uh are secured together by releasable res i, at the free endsthereof. The ies muv of any construction which (run be quicklyseparated. such for instance, as are illustrated in Figv The othermembers of th lmrncss 2 consist of the connecting strips which hold theband members 3 together.

A. further elen'ient of the safety device comprises a belt 6 which isindependent of the harness and, which is secured to the body by means ofa. buckle 7. The belt 6 and lowerend of the parachute aricome nected bycords 8.

To facilitate the opening of the parachute, or to automatically positionthe same over the body, I preferably provide a cord 9, one end of whichis secured tothe peak or apex of the parachute, the other end beingsecured to any adjacent member of the aeroplane, such as the seat, forinstance, a seat being herein illustrated by 10.

Before securing the parachute tothe body, it is folded, as showninFig. 1. It is then placed upon the buck and secured thereto by,theharness above described,- the belt 6 being also secured to the body, Thecords '8, which connect the front of the belt 6 to the parachute are lotover the, shoulders. The remaining, cords 8 may be disposed Whereconvenient. After the aviator has taken his seatv the cord 9 can besecured to the peak of the parachute and seat or other support.

Should the aeroplane fall, the aviator would pull the strap ends 11,which would disconnect the band members 3, at which timethe foldedparachute would fall from the bucln Should the aviatofkbe thrown fromhis seat and fall, the cord 9 would break us soon as a. strain has beenplaced thereupon. The cord, 9 will be strong enough to hold until thepeiechute has been pulled above the falling aviator. The weight of thefalling body will break the cord 9. As soon as the cord 9 has broken,the parachute will open, due to the rapid descent, in a manner common toall parachutes, whereby the -fall of the aviator will be checked.

Having now described our invention, what we claim and desire to securebyLettors Patent is in combination with an seroplene, s'life saving devicecomprising a parachute, s, harness adapted to secure the peracliutewhile folded directly to the body, an mus;-

pendent belt adapted for Securement'to the 16.

body, cords connecting said belt and said parachute, and a cord directlyconnecting Signed at New York city, N. Y., this 2711] G16 peak of saidparachute and the aeroday of October, 1911.

plane, said cord bemg adapted to first position said parachute over thebody, should said body fall, and to break, aft-at the Wei ht of the bodyis placed thereupon and a ter said parachute has been positioned overthe body.

JOSEPH M. CONNOR. ELMER R. CONNOR. \Vitnesses:

SAMUEL D. SEWELL,

HARRY SEWELL.

